FDA warns of bogus Botox

Nov 14 09:30 The FDA is issuing a warning about bogus Botox. People are getting injured from fake versions of the popular neurotoxin Sammy with Houston Oculofacial plastic surgery. Joins us now to discuss in depth. Good morning to you, doctor Sammy. Thanks for joining us. Good morning Melissa. Thank you for having me. We understand the agency is taking action against websites selling fake Botox. So is this the problem? People are buying it online or are these clinics buying it online? Where's the problem? Yeah, that seems to be where the issue is occurring because this is Botox. That is not actually the FDA approved version of Botox. It's bought on these black market websites, completely unregulated. And let's be honest, this is a neurotoxin Nov 14 09:31 we're talking about. It has the ability to paralyze muscles. And that's why we use it in cosmetic and medical therapeutics, spastic disorders or cosmetic treatment of facial lines and wrinkles. So we're talking about a neurotoxin that is in a high enough dose that it actually circulates in the bloodstream of these patients and then causes paralysis where they have to be hospitalized. You know, the symptoms will be things like not being able to breathe, swallow movements of the body. And and that's really serious. So those patients then need to be taken straight to the hospital for medical attention. That is a scary thought. Now how can you tell if it's real? Botox from counterfeit is again, these are clinics that are needing to watch and be careful of this. Right? That's true. And you know, I'm I think the reason why this is happening is because, you know, it's like Nov 14 09:32 with anything it's about cutting corners, cutting costs. And so they're looking for cheaper options. And those cheaper options are not regulated. They're fake. They're counterfeit Botox. And which means that the toxin might not be in the right form. Remember, the neurotoxin in Botox is a purified version of that toxin that we inject. We reconstitute it with a certain amount of saline, and we dilute it to a certain degree and then inject those units into the tissue that we want to treat. Now, if you have counterfeit Botox, where it has not been well regulated, we don't know what the concentration of the toxin is. You can imagine that it could be either ineffective or overly effective. And the issue with it being overly effective is that then it spreads to other parts of the body and causes paralysis to other systems. My goodness, that is, you know, a more scary thought. And we were just Nov 14 09:33 sharing a picture that you shared with us because you've treated patients that this has happened to. It's it's a real problem. So what do you do if you think you've received counterfeit Botox, what is your biggest suggestion?